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Monday, 3 August 2015

Whole Wheat Blueberry and Almond Muffins

Soft and tender, these muffins and still substantial and full of flavour, and goodness from the whole wheat flour, superfood blueberries and delicious maple syrup.

Blueberry muffins are something that seems to appeal to nearly everyone. They are practically a right of passage for a baker as well - you have to bake them at least once in your baking career. I've baked a standard blueberry muffin before but wasn't overly impressed by my recipe. This version however is anything but standard.

Mum and Dad have several fruit bushes and trees growing in the back garden including three blueberrys bushes. Apparently they take five years to become fully established but Dad keeps forgetting this and moans about the low harvest each time he picks a batch of fruit. Mum disagrees and thinks they are doing pretty good to say they are only on year three. The funny thing is that Dad doesn't actually eat the fruit that he wants to grow - we still have a handful of red gooseberries on the kitchen windowsill that are going to go to waste because he just leaves them there instead of putting them in the freezer so they can be used when enough have been gathered. I wasn't going to let the first batch of blueberries go to waste though - they went into these muffins.

I used my favourite muffins recipe which I used to make these coffee muffins as well as these apple ones. I've used the same base recipe to make savoury muffins too which are delicious for breakfast or lunch. This time I was fancying making something that would let me feel slightly healthy while eating it. Something with whole wheat flour. Then in went some ground almonds for extra flavour, moisture and vitamin E. I replaced part of the sugar with maple syrup to complement the caramel sugar and the result was perfect. They belie the reputation of muffins for being heavy - these are beautifully light with a sumptuously soft crumb despite the whole wheat flavour. The moisture balance is perfectly poised and the flavours meld into nutty caramel delight. The blueberries provide juicy bursts of extra flavour and streaks of bright colour through each treat. No glaze is necessary - a brush of butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar is the only highlight these muffins need.

Even Mum who is a sceptic of baked goods that sound healthy was impressed with these. If you wanted to go extra indulgent I think one of these warmed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side would be ideal. Hmm, yes, deinitely one to give a go.

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Whole Wheat Blueberry and Almond Muffins

by Laura August-3-2015Makes 8 muffins

Soft and tender, these muffins and still substantial and full of flavour, and goodness from the whole wheat flour, superfood blueberries and delicious maple syrup.

Ingredients

For the muffins:

70g plain flour

70g whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp cinnamon

115g blueberries dusted with a little flour

50g ground almonds

1 tsp almond extract

120 ml milk mixed with 1 dsp vinegar

1 large egg

4 tbsp oil

4 tbsp maple syrup

40g soft brown sugar

To finish:

15g butter, melted

1 tbsp granulated sugar mixed with 0.5 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Set the oven to 220 C/200 C fan and place 8 muffin cases on a muffin tray.2. Sift together the flours, ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon. Stir in the dusted blueberries. In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together the almond extract, soured milk, egg, maple syrup, sugar and oil.Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together until just combined. A few floury lumps are fine.3. Divide the mixture between the cases and bake in the preheated oven for 5 mins. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 180 /160 fan. Bake for a further 13-15 mins then remove from the oven ans carefully transfer the muffins to a wire rack. 4. Brush each one with melted butter and sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar.

I seem to be sending nothig but muffins over to Dom at Belleau Kitchen for his Simply Eggcellent challenge - I hoep you don't mind Dom! Muffins are good for picnics too being easily transportable and naturally portioned up so I'm also sending them to Ness at JibberJabber UK for Love Cake.

Snap! I just baked some healthy banana, blueberry and oat muffins. You know how much I love baking muffins and blueberries are one of my favourite. I definitely need to try this recipe as it looks scrumptious! Love the maple syrup addition!

I have quite literally just finished eating something very similar and so it's almost like a full experiential experience eating and reading this. Your muffins look stunning, I love the crunchy top and you're really lucky to have all that wonderful fruit on hand. Thanks so much for linking to Simply Eggcellent x

I love blueberry muffins. I keep thinking about buying a blueberry bush. If it takes five years to get established I'd better a move on! I've made blueberry muffins with bran before so I really like the sound of the whole wheat in these.